Getting ahead at Disney
Advance reservations have become an absolute necessity for enjoying a Disney theme park
There once was a time when a family group wanting to make an impromptu visit to a Disney theme park would simply arrive at the entrance gates around 9 a.m, purchase their tickets, proceed inside and enjoy more than a dozen exhibits, rides or attractions before leaving the park at 6 p.m.
That is no longer the case. Today, the attendance numbers at Disney theme parks is so massive that people without advance reservations to exhibits, rides or attractions often will spend up to two hours or more waiting in line for a single event. And the same disappointing fate will befall them if they arrive without reservations to a Disney hotel or restaurant.
The Disney hotels are the first to be reserved in advance, if you insist on using one. Not only do they provide free transportation to the parks themselves, but people reserving such a hotel can secure a “FastPass” to Disney attractions a full 60 days in advance of their visit. A FastPass, which is free, permits the user to either skip the lines or go to a shorter line once within the park. People not staying at a Disney hotel will be forced to wait to obtain their FastPasses until only 30 days in advance, by which time the more popular attractions (or the lines for entering them) may be blocked off.
The same necessity of advance reservations applies to Disney restaurants. They are so popular that people without advance reservations often will find themselves unable to enter one, and thus relegated to meals from food stands, or far more casual meals. Disney’s sit-down restaurants are heavily booked for long periods of the year.
The same applies for the equally popular “character meals” (breakfast with Cinderella, etc.), to which you may wish to bring your children. Without advance reservations, which are made by phoning the appropriate telephone number for each restaurant (found on the Disney website), you may be told that all places are fully booked and unavailable to you and your party.
Special events — such as Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party - also are available, realistically, only to people who reserve them far in advance.
So popular are these occasions — enjoyed at night and in the evening hours — that people without special tickets are required to leave the park by 6 p.m. Only those with advance reservations can enjoy the Halloween or Christmas evening parades, lights, stunts and the like.
All in all, a Disney vacation can no longer be fully enjoyed without advance reservations made by phone to Disney (see their website). Without one, you and your party become second-class citizens, the inevitable role resulting from the immense crowds that Disney now attracts.
Arthur Frommer is the pioneering founder of the Frommer’s Travel Guide book series. He co-hosts the radio program, “The Travel Show,” with his travel correspondent daughter Pauline Frommer. Find more destinations online and read Arthur Frommer’s blog at frommers.com.